Thousands of Sydney residents have to leave their homes due to flooding

Due to the heavy rains, rivers burst from their banks. According to Australian media reports, authorities in the southeastern state of New South Wales, of which Sydney is a part, have declared a state of emergency.

It’s not just the rain, meteorologist Jonathan How told ABC News. “It’s also the strong wind.” Even today it continues to rain heavily and in some areas up to 200 millimeters of rain can fall.

The Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main water reservoir, was flooded for the first time since 1990 due to bad weather. As a result, a nearby location had to be evacuated. It is feared that other dams will also be inundated.

Emergency services received around 600 requests for assistance last night, including more than 60 from people struggling due to the flooding. The last days have come at least 6,000 requests for assistance.

On TV and on social media, you can see footage of how quickly flowing water tears houses and trees apart, floods roads, and damages infrastructure.

The extreme weather conditions are also disrupting the vaccinations of nearly six million people in the state, which were due to start in the coming weeks. According to New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian, it may have been the worst rain in about 25 years.